The X Files Reopened: Generation X
by Laura1
Summary: It's 25 years into the future, and Mulder and Scully are nowhere to be seen...


The X Files Reopened

GENERATION X – THE PILOT

Summary: Okay, basically this is a 25 years into the future story involving Mulder and Scully's daughter, and her discovery of the existence of the X files.

### Category: There isn't really a category, apart from future fic…

Disclaimer:e.g. As there is so much injustice in the world, these characters obviously don't belong to me, although in a perfect world…

Authors notes: Apologies if you read this already and was wondering what was going on with the blue writing… It was just a friend telling me what to put in the introduction and I forgot to edit it…oops. 

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

**Karen Johnson - is a newly qualified FBI agent with a degree in criminology and is, obviously, the daughter of Mulder and Scully. Aged about 25, she has dark hair and is tall like her father. She was adopted into a conservative family at an early age and has an elder brother, Nick, who is her parents' natural son. Intelligent and serious, she is excellent at her job and determined to apply the investigative skills she has learnt to find out about her background and who her parents are. She can be quite passionate and emotional.**

**Mark Schwarz - Slightly older than Karen, he has been at work in the FBI for about five years. His career is going nowhere because of his strong beliefs in the paranormal. He is not taken seriously by anybody and is regarded as the joke of the FBI. He is a bit of a geek and lacks the nerve to take on the government alone which is why he is so interested in teaming up with Karen. He knows all about Mulder and Scully and their work on the x-files and considers them to be his heroes, so is a little in awe of Karen upon finding her to be their daughter.**

**Man X - is the head of the conspiracy. He is ruthless and will stop at nothing to protect his group's schemes.**

**Man Y - is high up in the CIA and provides X with much of the intelligence and information he needs.**

**********

GENERATION X – THE PILOT

**********

(Scene is a smoky bar, camera follows a waitress as she walks past a table in the darkest corner then focuses on the two middle aged men dressed in suits sitting there.

On the table is a sheaf of papers and a pile of glossy photographs, the top one of which shows a well-dressed young woman, our heroine Karen Johnson.)

**MAN Y: (In a hushed voice) The situation is fully under control. There is no cause for concern.**

**MAN X: You're sure she presents no threat.**

**MAN Y: Her academic record is exemplary. Graduated with honours from Harvard, top of her class at Quantico. Never disciplined once during the whole of her time at the academy. Her supervisor describes her as conscientious. We've investigated her associations and her routine and nothing arouses any suspicion. We can safely assume she's harmless. **

**MAN X: What about her parents?**

**MAN Y: She knows nothing about them beyond their names and that they used to work for the FBI. As far as we can ascertain she's had no contact with either Agents**

Mulder or Scully since her adoption, neither has she made any attempts to find out more about them.

**MAN X: How can you be so sure?**

**MAN Y: We have an operative in a position close to her.**

(There is a pause in the conversation whilst a waitress comes to the table to collect their empty drinks glasses. As she does so she takes a long glance at the photographs and papers, is caught doing so and looks up guiltily.)

**WAITRESS: You gentlemen want anything else to drink? I can bring it over.**

**MAN X: No thank you. That will be all.**

(Waitress leaves)

**MAN X: (To Man Y, continuing conversation) Surely you can understand our concern. Mulder and Scully were a thorn in the side of our group for many years. They nearly succeeded in ruining our entire operation. If there's any chance of the same situation presenting itself again I need to know about it.**

**MAN Y: Believe me you will. We're continuing our surveillance of Agent Johnson and if she has so much as a late library book then the report will be on your desk within ten minutes.**

**MAN X: Good. (Gets up to go.)**

*************

(Outside the bar the waitress from earlier stands in a back alley smoking. Man X steps out of the shadows from behind her.)

** **

**MAN X: Excuse me, miss.**

(The waitress turns and man X pulls out a gun from underneath his coat, shoots her once in the chest and calmly walks off in the opposite direction.) 

**************

CREDITS OF SOME DESCRIPTION

**************

(Scene is a large, well done out kitchen. Standing at the sink washing up is Nick Johnson, Karen's adoptive brother. Karen, dressed casually, walks in from the dining room, from where the soft chatter of dinner guests can be heard. She sinks down into a chair at the kitchen table.)

**NICK: Hey, Karen. (Sarcastically) Tough day at work?**

**KAREN: (Fed up) Do you think you could drop it now, please Nick? I get enough from Mom and Dad without you being on my case as well.**

**NICK: (Turning away from the sink to face Karen and the camera) You can hardly blame them. You're really hurting them with what you're doing.**

**KAREN: Tell me, what exactly am I doing. Finding myself a well paying job and a good career? Securing my future?**

**NICK: You'd never even have considered joining the FBI, if they hadn't worked there.**

**KAREN: Who's they Nick? My real parents. You can't even bring yourself to say it. That I don't belong to this family.**

**NICK: (Angrily) For God's sake, Karen! (Catches himself shouting and lowers his voice) Of course you belong to this family. That's exactly the attitude that's upsetting Mom and Dad. Besides if you didn't spend so much time obsessing about your biological parents and trying to follow in their footsteps you might have more time to fit in to this family.**

**KAREN: But I'm good at it, Nick! At being an FBI agent. I mean, really good. And I don't know whether that's because of who my real parents are or in spite of it, but that doesn't make any difference because I'm doing something I love anyway. Why can't Mom and Dad appreciate that?**

**NICK: They think you're rejecting them; that they're losing you to some ideal of your real parents you have.**

**KAREN: Then they don't understand. I have to find out who I am where I come from and at the moment the FBI is the only connection I have to that. It can't matter to me what anyone else feels, I need to find the truth.**

***************

## FBI Headquarters, Washington DC, 8.45pm

(Scene is a large office space divided into cubicles, all empty apart from one desk at which Karen sits. The overhead light lights are off and Karen's desk lamp creates the only illumination. She faces her computer screen and dictates into a small microphone.)

**KAREN: ...background check on James Garland, DOB third of the seventh 1980. Case number... (She pauses briefly to check her notes)…01620693. (As she speaks her dictation can been seen appearing on the screen). Subject has worked as a computer programmer for Q-Vex Technologies for the past eight years. His employer, a Mr (checks her notes again) Maxwell Quinn, describes him as 'highly competent' and 'extremely knowledgeable' in his field, so there is no doubt that Garland would have possessed the necessary technical expertise to carry out this offence.**

(She breaks off, puts the microphone down and sighs)

** **

**KAREN: (Muttered) Background checks and white-collar crime, just why I joined the FBI.**

(She pushes aside the papers that are covering her desk, reaches into a desk drawer and gets out a crucifix on a gold chain. She examines it closely, then holds it up so it catches the light.)

**KAREN: (Softly) Where are you Mom? Who are you?**

(Putting down the crucifix she turns back to the computer and calls up a search option. She types in SCULLY, DANA KATHERINE, then hits the enter key. The computer bleeps at her then brings up the message 'FILE IS CLASSIFIED - PLEASE ENTER SECURITY CODE'. Frowning she cancels the operation and tries again with the same result. Agitated now she searches this time for MULDER, FOX WILLIAM, only to be faced with the same message again. She hurriedly switches off the computer and rushes out of the room pausing only to pick up the necklace and put it in her pocket.)

************

(FBI Records office. A middle aged, informally dressed man sits with his feet up at a long desk behind which is a door leading into the records store. He is reading a newspaper, which he puts down when Karen enters.)

**DESK CLERK: No rest for the wicked, eh?**

**KAREN: I'm sorry?**

**DESK CLERK: Working a bit late, aren't you?**

**KAREN: (Distractedly) Yes. I need to see the personnel files on some former agents. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. They would have been working around the 1990s.**

**CLERK: Mulder and Scully? It's been a few years since I've heard those names.**

**KAREN: You've heard of them?**

**CLERK: Of course I have. They were pretty infamous in their day. A bit before your time, though.**

**KAREN: (Eagerly) Infamous for what?**

**CLERK: (Suspicious) What was it you wanted their files for, anyway?**

**KAREN: (Bluffing) Oh, their names just came up in connection with something, that's all. Nothing important.**

**CLERK: Well if it's not important, then I suggest you leave well alone. (In a warning tone) Going around asking questions about Mulder and Scully is going to attract attention and not the kind of attention that someone as new as you to the job needs, either.**

(The clerk starts to go back to his paper as if to indicate the end of the exchange but Karen remains where she is with a crestfallen expression on her face, so the clerk pushes the paper away and leans forward confidentially.)

**CLERK: But if you really want to know, and I'm guessing you do, then there is someone you can talk to.**

**KAREN: Who?**

**CLERK: Agent Schwarz. Mark Schwarz. He works over in electronic surveillance. He's not the most popular guy in the place but he should be able to help you out with what you need. He normally works pretty late, so you should still be able to catch him.**

**KAREN: Thanks.**

************

(Scene is a small office, the only light in which is coming from a TV screen which Mark Schwarz sits in front of and on which is playing a CCTV camera tape. There is a knock on the door.)

**MARK: (Surprised) Come in.**

(Karen enters and holds out her hand in greeting.)

**KAREN: Agent Schwarz, I'm sorry to bother you. My name is Karen Johnson.**

(Mark shakes her hand, switches off the TV and on a desk lamp.)

**MARK: Believe me it's no bother. It's not often I get treated to a visit from a beautiful woman this late at night. **

**KAREN: (Smiling) I was told you could help me. I'm looking for information on two former agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.**

**MARK: (Interested and alert now) You want to know about Mulder and Scully?**

**KAREN: Yes.**

**MARK: How come?**

**KAREN: How come? (Repeating her lie) Their names came up in connection with an investigation. I was just interested in finding out more – that's all.**

**MARK: What? Who mentioned them?**

**KAREN: (Flustered) It was just a case I'm working on, a witness remembered being interviewed by them years ago.**

**MARK: And you bothered staying late after work and coming to find me, in order to ask about some ex-agents that some guy spoke to on an unrelated case 25 years ago.**

**KAREN: (Upset now) Well...**

**MARK: There's no witness and no connection with any case is there?**

(Karen does not know what to say.)

**MARK: (Confrontational) Listen, I don't know if someone sent you up here as a joke or whether you're working for someone who wants to find out what I know. Either way you can get out. I've got nothing to say to you.**

**KAREN: (Genuinely confused) What do you mean? Nobody's sent me and I only work for the bureau, like you.**

**MARK: (Sensing she is telling the truth) Then why are you here? Why do you want to know about Mulder and Scully?**

**KAREN: (Hesitant) Personal reasons. I have a...(she thinks carefully before she speaks) family connection.**

(Mark leans froward in his chair and peers closely at Karen.)

**MARK: (A revelation) You're her, aren't you?**

**KAREN: Who's her?**

**MARK: Catherine. (Excited) You're Catherine!**

**KAREN: (Now totally puzzled) Catherine? No, I told you my name's Karen, Karen Johnson.**

(Mark stands puts his hands on Karen's shoulders and looks into her eyes)

**MARK: (Spoken softly) You're their daughter, aren't you.**

(Karen drops her gaze from his then speaks very quietly.)

**KAREN: Yes.**

(Mark is very excited now, he paces about the room as he speaks and cannot suppress a grin.)

**MARK: This is incredible. Unbelievable! You're it; you're the key to the X-files, to everything. You're the only one who can legitimise their work, prove the existence of extra-terrestrials. And you just walked into my office! It's amazing!**

**KAREN: What are you talking about? What are the X-files? What have aliens got to do with it?**

(Mark stops in his tracks, incredulous.)

**MARK: You really don't know any of this, do you?**

**KAREN: No. I just know that they were my parents and that they were FBI agents. Beyond that I haven't a clue what you're talking about. I just wanted to find out who they were - what they were like.**

**MARK: (Getting his jacket) Then there's someone I think you should meet.**

*****************

**10:35pm**

(Karen is following Mark down a corridor inside an apartment building. Mark stops at door 212 and knocks. The door is answered by a considerably older - by 25 years – and now retired, Assistant Director Walter Skinner.)

**SKINNER: It's a bit late for social calls, don't you think Agent Schwartz?**

**MARK: I didn't think you'd mind me disturbing you when you found out the reason why.**

**SKINNER: This better be good, Schwartz.**

**MARK: Oh it is. I want you to meet someone. This is Special Agent Karen Johnson. (Steps aside to reveal Karen). Karen this is Walter Skinner.**

**SKINNER: So, you finally found yourself a date. Why should I be interested in that?**

**MARK: (Not bothered by Skinner's sarcasm) Well it only gets interesting when you realise that Karen Johnson isn't her real name at all. It's the name her adoptive parents gave her about 25 years ago. This grabbing your attention yet or should I let you get back to bed? **

**SKINNER: Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?**

**MARK: We've finally found her. Catherine. The mystery daughter.**

***********

(Now inside Skinner's apartment. All three are seated around a low coffee table in the middle of the room.)

**SKINNER: (To Karen) How do we know you're telling the truth? That you are who you say you are.**

**KAREN: I guess you don't. I mean, I know nothing about my real parents. I've got no photographs of them or anything. The only connection I have to them is this necklace. (She takes the crucifix out of her pocket and shows it to Skinner). I was wearing it when my adoptive parents took me home for the first time.**

**SKINNER: (Taking the necklace from Karen) This was Agent Scully's, your mother's, she used to wear it a lot. I think it was a present from her mother.**

(He hands it back.)

**KAREN: Did you know my parents well?**

**SKINNER: I was their boss. An Assistant Director with the FBI. I supervised their work on the X-files.**

**KAREN: What are the X-files? Agent Schwartz mentioned them before. Were they important to my parents or something?**

**SKINNER: The X-files were all the unsolved cases, those that defied explanation. They were your father's life's work.**

**KAREN: What was so unexplainable about them? Why do they seem to matter so much to everyone?**

**MARK: The X-files concerned paranormal phenomena. Events that fell outside the realm of science. Genetic mutations, psychic ability, the occult - you name it, it was in there. But what your father was really interested in were extra-terrestrials, visitors to our planet from elsewhere.**

(Karen is stunned.)

** **

**SKINNER: I can see this is a lot for you to take in all at once. Perhaps instead of talking I could show you something, some photographs.**

**KAREN: You have photographs of them?**

(Skinner crosses the room and extracts an envelope from a desk drawer that he hands to Karen.)

**SKINNER: Here.**

(Karen, wide eyed, opens the envelope and tips five or six photographs out on to her lap. They are all of Mulder and Scully, but in one a young baby accompanies them. There is a long silence as Karen lingers over all these photographs, examining that one especially.)

**SKINNER: They wanted me to keep these for you. In case I ever found you.**

**KAREN: (Looking up) They knew I was going to be adopted?**

**SKINNER: They arranged it all. Made sure you were going to a good family.**

**KAREN: Why? What happened to them? My parents (she corrects herself)...my adoptive parents told me that they went missing. That there was an investigation and they were presumed to be dead. That was why I had to be adopted.**

**SKINNER: You're right, they did disappear. But not until after you'd been adopted.**

**KAREN: (Hurt) Then why did they give me up? Didn't they want me?**

**SKINNER: They gave you up because they wanted to keep you safe, they didn't want the same thing happening to you as happened to your aunt.**

**KAREN: My aunt, what's she got to do with this?**

**SKINNER: You're fathers' sister was taken from her home when she was only a child. They never saw her again.**

**KAREN: Taken by whom?**

**SKINNER: Agent Mulder believed it was an alien abduction, orchestrated by the government.**

**KAREN: (Highly sceptical) An alien abduction? That still doesn't explain why they'd have me adopted.**

**SKINNER: There's another reason. I think they knew what was going to happen to them, that they were going to die. They wanted to make sure you were left in a good home and had a normal upbringing.**

**KAREN: (Disappointed) You're sure they're dead then?**

**SKINNER: (He puts his hand over hers and speaks in a low voice) I'm sorry.**

(Karen goes back to examining the photographs, tears in her eyes.)

**MARK: (Breaking the silence) Aren't you going to tell her the rest?**

**SKINNER: I'm not sure she's ready.**

**KAREN: (Recovered now) What rest? If there's something else about my real parents I should know then I want you to tell me.**

**SKINNER: (Looking over at Mark, who nods.) When Mulder and Scully had you adopted they also made other arrangements. (He stops, finding things difficult to explain.)**

**KAREN: What other arrangements?**

**MARK: They gathered together all their work. All the evidence they had collected from every case they'd ever worked on together. The entire X-files. And they left them to you. Their legacy.**

**KAREN: I don't understand. (To Skinner) So, do you have these, then?**

**SKINNER: No, they were worried the work would fall into the wrong hands and be destroyed. It's all locked in a safety deposit box in a bank down town. The only person who can gain access to the contents of the box is whoever can prove that she is the daughter of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. You.**

**KAREN: But how will I be able to prove it?**

**SKINNER: You can take a DNA test. Mulder and Scully both had their genetic fingerprints taken for comparison with whoever, tries to open the box. Only if your DNA matches theirs will you be allowed access.**

**KAREN: Why do this though? Why lock away all their work and leave it to me?**

**MARK: So you could continue you it. There was no one else for them to trust who could. With all their files you'll be able to complete their lives work. Prove the existence of extra-terrestrials. Expose the governments' conspiracy to prevent the public from learning the truth. We can go and fetch everything tomorrow. It'll take a day or two to go through it all...**

**KAREN: (Interrupting) Hang on! This is all a bit sudden. I've just found out about my parents and you want me to take over their work investigating the paranormal, aliens? The whole idea is crazy! I mean I have got a life of my own you know. I'm not ruled by who my parents were. Now, if you'll excuse me (She gets up and moves towards the door) it's late, I should be getting home. Thank you Mr Skinner.**

**MARK: Karen wait! Don't you think we should talk more about this?**

**KAREN: No. I think I've heard more than enough for one evening already.**

**MARK: (Gathering up the photographs) Well at least take these with you. And… (He gets out a card from the inside pocket of his jacket and writes on the back) this is my home phone number, call me if you change your mind.**

**KAREN: I really don't think that's going to happen.**

**MARK: Take it anyway. Just in case.**

(She thinks about it then takes the card and walks out the door.)

*********************

**6:45pm, the following day.**

(Scene is Karen and her roommate's - an Asian girl by the name of Amy Woo - shared apartment. The set up of the apartment is open plan and Amy is in the kitchen area standing at the stove cooking. Karen walks in the front door.)

**KAREN: Hi, Amy. It's only me.**

(She walks into the kitchen and leans over Amy's shoulder.)

**KAREN: Mmm. Whatever you're cooking, I'm eating.**

**AMY: That's what you think! This is a strictly private dinner party. Me and Daniel only.**

**KAREN: I didn't know Daniel was coming over.**

**AMY: Well maybe if you'd come home a bit earlier last night I'd have been awake to tell you.**

**KAREN: (Turning away) Yeah, right. Sorry.**

**AMY: (Teasing) What happened to you, anyway? Was it just your workaholic genes demonstrating themselves or did you meet someone?**

**KAREN: (Going and sitting down at the kitchen table) It was kind of a bit of both.**

**AMY: (Joining her, still smiling but a little puzzled) What d'you mean.**

**KAREN: I was working late last night after everyone else had gone home and I decided I'd conduct a little investigation of my own. Into my parents.**

**AMY: And did you find anything.**

**KAREN: More than I bargained for, actually. I went to talk to this guy who used to know them, he was their boss. He started going on about alien abductions and these things called the X-files, which he expected me to take over investigating. He said Mulder and Scully - he used their surnames, just like that - left all their work for me in this safety deposit box and I was the only one who could get at it.**

**AMY: Sounds pretty weird to me.**

**KAREN: Yeah, it was. Totally.**

**AMY: So what are you going to do?**

**KAREN: I don't know. At first I told this guy I wasn't interested, but when I thought about it afterwards I realised that this could be the best opportunity I have to learn about my parents. And they did want me to have the stuff, so I should at least take a look at it.**

**AMY: (With an attempt at lightness) You're going to go along with this guy then.**

**KAREN: (Rests her head in her hands and sighs) I don't know. It's all a bit overwhelming really. (Abruptly changing the subject) Well, if Dan's coming over then you won't want me in the way. I think I'll just head over to Mom and Dad's.**

**AMY: Are you sure? You don't have to go you know. The pasta could stretch to three.**

**KAREN: It's okay. Things have been a bit awkward with Mom and Dad at the moment anyway. A visit might help smooth thing over. You enjoy your romantic evening.**

(She gets up, picks her coat and keys up from where she left them when she came in and leaves. Amy waits until she's gone then picks up the phone and dials a number from memory.)

**AMY: It's me. She knows. She's been to see Skinner.**

(Shot changes to Man Y sitting in a car on his mobile phone.)

**MAN Y: Is she going to recover the files?**

**AMY: I'm not sure. She hasn't made her mind up yet.**

**MAN Y: Then it will only be a matter of time before Skinner convinces her to. Thank you, Miss Woo, you've been a great help. Your contribution will not be forgotten.**

**AMY: What are you going to do now? What'll happen to Karen?**

**MAN Y: Don't worry everything will be taken care of.**

**AMY: (Concerned) You're not going to hurt her, are you? I mean she never even said she was going to fetch the files. She thinks the whole thing's ridiculous.**

**MAN Y: The matter is no longer of your concern Miss Woo. Goodbye.**

(He hangs up the phone and turns to Man X who is in the car next to him.)

**MAN Y: The situation has changed. It is time to take action.**

******************

**7:30pm**

(Scene is the hallway of Karen's adoptive parents house. It is large and tastefully decorated, implying wealth and class. The phone, on a low table at the foot of the stairs, rings and Karen's mother goes to answer it.)

**MRS JOHNSON: Hello. Yes, honey, she's here. (Holding the phone away she calls) Karen. It's Amy on the phone for you.**

(Karen walks in and takes the phone from her mother, who exits)

** **

**KAREN: Thanks Mom. (Into the phone) Hi. What's up? I only just got here.**

(Throughout the conversation the shot passes between Karen at her parents and Amy still in the apartment.)

** **

**AMY: (Very agitated) I've been trying to call you since you left. You've got your cell phone switched off.**

**KAREN: The batteries must have run down. What's the big deal?**

**AMY: What you told me about your parents and their work, the X-files.**

**KAREN: (Puzzled) Yes?**

**AMY: You should forget about it. Leave things as they are. If you take things any further and retrieve those files then you could be putting yourself in danger.**

**KAREN: What are you talking about? How could looking at some 25-year-old case files put me in any danger?**

**AMY: (Insistent) You have to listen to me Karen. There are men who would kill to stop those files going public. You have to tell Skinner that you're not interested. Walk away from this thing.**

**KAREN: (Suspicious) How did you know this guy's name was Skinner?**

(There is a knock heard at the apartment door.)

**AMY: I've just got to go and let Daniel in. Karen, please don't hang up. I'll be back in a minute. We really have to talk about this.**

(She puts the receiver down on the counter-top. The camera follows her to the front door then returns for a close up on the abandoned receiver. The door is heard opening.)

**AMY: (Voice from out of shot) What are you doing here?**

(Shot switches back to Karen still in her parent's hallway. Sounds are heard through the phone line.)

**AMY: Oh my God. NO!**

(Sounds of a gunshot and the thump of Amy's body falling to the floor follow. Karen reacts to this with panic, near shouting down the phone.)

**KAREN: Amy! Are you okay? Can you hear me?**

(In the apartment a gloved hand depresses the button on the phone which cuts off the connection with Karen. Only a dialling tone is now heard. The camera shot first shows the receiver, still on the counter, in focus in the foreground then the focus shifts to the body of Amy on the floor behind the counter in the background and the black trousered legs of her killer walking past towards the door.)

*******************

(Scene is the corridor outside Karen's apartment where several people are milling about. Karen pushes past them to get to her front door that has scene of crime tape swathed across it and a police officer guarding it. The officer tries to stop her as she enters her apartment.)

**KAREN: Let me through, I live here.**

(The officer steps aside and Karen enters the apartment which is also full of people. Scene of crime officers are bending over a chalk outline of Amy's body in the middle of the room and two plain clothes detectives are sitting on the sofa interviewing a good-looking, but clearly devastated young man – Amy's boyfriend Daniel. Karen reacts with shock at the scene and stands speechless just inside the door.)

**KAREN: What happened here?**

(One of the detectives gets up to meet her.)

**DETECTIVE: Karen Johnson?**

**KAREN: Yes.**

**DETECTIVE: I'm very sorry but your roommate's been shot by an intruder. Her boyfriend (Indicates Daniel) found her shortly after it happened and called an ambulance but by the time it arrived she was already dead. We think it was an attempted burglary gone wrong.**

**KAREN: But nothing's been taken.**

**DETECTIVE: Your roommate obviously disturbed the thief before he had a chance to steal anything.**

**KAREN: (Heatedly) No! She was on the phone to me when it happened. She knew whoever it was. Answered the door. Let them in.**

**DETECTIVE: Miss, understandably you're very upset by this whole situation. Now we're going to be here a while, gathering evidence and so forth. Is there someone you can go and stay with for the night?**

**KAREN: I'm not going anywhere. Don't you want to take a statement from me? I was a witness, on the phone.**

(She looks over to where the phone is and sees the receiver has been replaced.)

**DETECTIVE: I don't think there's any need for that, do you. Now I can see that being here is just upsetting you even more. Perhaps you can call a friend, get them to pick you up?**

**KAREN: (Shouting emotionally) What's the matter with you? I'm telling you there was no interrupted burglary. Amy was murdered by someone she knew. (Abrupt change of direction, her FBI training coming into play) What's your name? I want to see some ID.**

(Karen has been attracting the attention of others in the room and at this point the second detective walks over, puts his hand on Karen's arm and steers her towards the door.)

** **

**DETECTIVE #2: (His voice hard and low) This is a crime scene and only authorised investigators are permitted at this stage. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We'll call when we've finished up here and you can move back in.**

**KAREN: (Coldly) Fine.**

(She turns around and storms out of the apartment.)

***************

(Scene shifts to outside Karen's apartment building. She exits through the front entrance and hurries down the pavement on foot. She has gone about 20 yards when a man steps out of the shadows by the entrance and starts following her. A little further on Karen crosses the road glancing behind her as she does so. She sees the man and quickens her step. The man following starts to move faster as well. Risking another small glance over her shoulder she sees the man is still there and ducks into the brightly lit tram station on the street corner - trams having taken a large step towards replacing the private car in big cities by this time. Rushing through the turnstile she shoves some money at the girl and grabs her ticket without waiting for change. A tram is already at the platform and she jumps on it and finds a seat next to the window.

Just as she is seated she sees the man rush on to the platform and head towards the tram just as it starts moving. As the tram is pulling out of the station Karen at her window seat passes by close to the man standing on the platform and their eyes meet before she looks away. Taking a deep breath Karen reaches in her pocket for her mobile, goes to switch it on then realises the batteries have gone flat and curses. This gets her a few surprised looks from her fellow passengers. At the next stop Karen gets off the tram glancing behind her as she does so and weaves her way through the large crowd on the platform towards the bank of payphones. Reaching in her purse for some change she finds the card that Mark Schwartz had written his number on and with trembling hands dials it then waits.)

**KAREN: Mark, Agent Schwartz. It's Karen Johnson here. I need your help.**

****************

(Mark and Karen are sitting in a quiet cafe, cups of coffee in front of them. They keep their voices low so that the other customers don't hear them.)

**KAREN: She was trying to warn me when it happened.**

**MARK: Warn you?**

**KAREN: About the X-files. She said I was in danger, that there were men willing to kill to protect their secrets. She was involved wasn't she?**

**MARK: Yeah, I think so. I'm sorry.**

**KAREN: If you had asked me yesterday I would have said that the one person I trusted more than anybody was Amy. And now look what's happened. I just don't know who to put my faith in anymore. It's like those cops at the scene.**

**MARK: What cops?**

**KAREN: The homicide detectives investigating Amy's death. They said she interrupted a burglar but I know she didn't. Whoever killed her she knew, she let them in.**

**MARK: And you told the cops this?**

**KAREN: Yes, but they wouldn't listen. Just said I was overwrought and that I should leave, go stay with a friend for the night.**

**MARK: And when you left you're sure you were followed?**

**KAREN: Positive. The guy looked straight at me. What do you think is going on?**

**MARK: A cover-up operation.**

**KAREN: Covering-up what?**

**MARK: The group. Their work: a conspiracy to conceal the existence of extra-terrestrial life. Secrets that the X-files could reveal. When you were ignorant about your parents and their legacy to you, then you presented no real threat to them. But now that you know, then you could reveal the existence of their group, the crimes they've committed and the lengths they've gone to in order to maintain the secrecy. They must have been paying Amy as an informant, so they could find out how much you knew. Was she short of money?**

**KAREN: (Distractedly as she is deep in thought) She was a doctor. She still owed thousands from medical school. (Changing tack) What I don't understand is why would it be so important for them to keep 25 year old secrets buried. Surely it wouldn't do any harm for them to come out now. Unless...**

**MARK: (Picking up her train of thought) Unless the work that they started 25 years ago, work that's contained in the X-files, is still continuing. Revelations of events 25 years ago could threaten to expose the group in its present day form.**

**KAREN: (Sighing) What am I going to do?**

**MARK: I don't know. It's up to you. Maybe you should follow your friend's advice and walk away from it all.**

**KAREN: No, it's too late for that now. I already know too much. If what you say about this group is true then they wouldn't leave me alone now even if I did try to walk away from it all. I don't know whether that guy tonight was meant to scare me or... (She breaks off shaking her head to clear the mental image). Well whatever is going on it's definitely serious and the only way to tackle it is head on. (Suddenly determined) And after all the trouble those files have caused me so far I'll be damned if I'm going to die without seeing them. I owe at least that much to Amy.**

**MARK: I'll call Skinner. We can go pick them up first thing tomorrow morning.**

**************

**9:15am - Building of Crawford, Baines and Goldstein - Attorneys at Law**

** **

(Scene is a plush office Karen, Mark and Skinner are all seated on one side of a large desk behind which sits a middle aged attorney. A young female paralegal is also present in the room. The attorney is haughty and self-important. Karen is short-tempered and nervous.)

**ATTORNEY: To be honest we normally wouldn't have accepted a case like this, it is one of the more unusual betrothments we've handled. But Miss Scully and Mr Mulder were very insistent and their FBI credentials did convince us they were reputable.**

**MARK: Then perhaps our credentials will be similarly convincing.**

**ATTORNEY: Perhaps indeed - that really depends on the outcome of Miss Johnson's tests.**

**KAREN: Then let's get it over with.**

**ATTORNEY: Not so fast I'm afraid. There's paperwork to be completed first. The instructions were explicit. Any attempt to access the safety deposit box must be fully documented (he indicates the paralegal who is scribbling away) and Mr Skinner's identity as a witness must be verified before the process can be continued any further.**

Arrangements have been made at a lab downtown. Now, I'm in a meeting for the rest of the morning but I can meet you there this afternoon, say about two?

**KAREN: Not until this afternoon!**

**SKINNER: (Putting a restraining hand on Karen's arm) That will be fine. Thank you.**

*************

**2:30pm**

(Scene is a very hi-tech lab. Skinner, Mark, Karen, the attorney and a white coated laboratory assistant are stood gathered around a bench at one end of the room. Skinner places his hands over a small light box with only the fingertips touching. A computer the box is connected to bleeps indicating a match. The lab assistant nods to the attorney who smiles.)

**ATTORNEY: Excellent Mr Skinner. Your fingerprints match those in my records. Now Miss Johnson we can get on with that DNA test you were so keen about this morning. Mr Skinner you need to witness this, as per my instructions.**

(The lab assistant leads Karen over to a neighbouring bench where she pricks Karen's finger and lets a single drop of blood fall into a small glass vial. This vial she then slots in place in a drawer in a machine on the countertop. She shuts the drawer, presses a few buttons and seconds later a printout of Karen's genetic profile is produced. Taking this and two other similar prints of profiles, which the attorney produced from a file he was carrying, she scans them into the computer. When they appear on the screen she runs a comparison programme and the computer beeps again, this time more than once.)

**KAREN: (Anxiously) What does that mean?**

**LAB ASSISTANT: You're looking for proof of parenthood, right? That individual c, (she indicates Karen) that's you, is the natural child of individuals a and b. (Karen nods) Then you've found it. The DNA profiles match.**

(Karen lets out a breath she had involuntarily been holding and turns to Mark her face a picture of relief. The lab assistant continues talking but nobody is paying much attention.)

**LAB ASSISTANT: Of course, one in three million people do share the same genetic profile, so technically...**

(She is interrupted by the attorney, who is suddenly all smiles and charm.)

**ATTORNEY: I think we'll take those odds. (To the other three) Right! The bank doesn't close until five so we should be able to get the contents of that box to you today. Shall we take my car?**

******************

(Scene is the inside of a bank in the room containing all the safety deposit boxes. There is a long table down the centre of the room and the walls are covered with the safety deposit boxes themselves, looking like sophisticated lockers. Karen, Mark, Skinner, the Attorney, and a bank clerk are all seated at the table and the paralegal from before hovers in the background with an arm full of files. The bank clerk passes Karen papers to sign, which are then also signed by the attorney and Skinner. The bank clerk then officially stamps the papers and stands smiling.)

**CLERK: Right that's all the paperwork sorted out all we need now is the other key and we can open the box.**

(The clerk gets out the bank's key and the paralegal extracts an envelope from one of the files she is carrying and hands it to the attorney. He opens the envelope, tips out a key into the palm of his hand, and passes it to Karen. She takes it nervously and she and the clerk use their keys simultaneously to open one of the larger safety deposit boxes over the far side of the room. After opening the door Karen removes several cardboard boxes filled with files, everybody gathers round to examine these.)

**ATTORNEY: (Disappointed) Documents. No what you were expecting I dare say.**

**KAREN: No these were exactly what I was expecting. What were you expecting?**

(The attorney looks lost for words and is saved from replying by the bank clerk.)

**CLERK: Would you like to be left alone to look through things? Take as long as you like I can come back to close the box when you've finished.**

**KAREN: No thank you. We'll be removing everything, so there's no need to keep the box any longer.**

**CLERK: Very well. If you'll just sign these to verify that there's nothing left in the box...**

(As Karen and the others are distracted by the papers and the boxes the paralegal slips out of the room and gets out a mobile phone. She dials and the person on the other end picks up immediately.)

**PARALEGAL: She's gained access to the safety deposit box. They're removing the files now. (She listens) No it looks like everything's there - Mulder and Scully really knew what they were doing. (She listens again for longer this time) Yes Sir, I understand. I'll arrange it immediately.**

(She hangs up.)

******************

(Scene is Mark's apartment. Karen and Mark are sitting on the floor surrounded by files.)

**MARK: This stuff is incredible! Accounts of alien sightings, photographs, autopsy reports…. Look at this! (He waves a piece of paper at Karen) An actual copy of a**

Government memo, denying the existence of extra-terrestrials. There's even stuff here about the landings at Roswell, New Mexico and Area 52, in Nevada.

**KAREN: What's that about New Mexico and Nevada?**

**MARK: Just some rumours that were pretty popular in the 20th century. It was always maintained that there was an alien spacecraft that crashed in Roswell in the 1940s but nobody could ever substantiate it. I guess you'd have to be a real enthusiast to know about that stuff now.**

**KAREN: And you are. A real enthusiast, that is.**

**MARK: Yeah, you could say that. This is like a dream to me getting to see these files. Mulder and Scully have been my heroes for years. **

(He stops noticing the grimace on Karen's face.)

** **

**MARK: I'm sorry. My dream: your nightmare, right?**

**KAREN: (Managing a smile) Not exactly a nightmare, just not how I pictured it was going to be.**

**MARK: I guess this has all been a bit of a shock for you.**

**KAREN: (Changing the subject) It's going to take us ages to get through all this.**

**MARK: Yeah. It's a shame there's so much on computer disc as well. Its going to be difficult to find an old computer that's still compatible with those kind of discs. I guess we could ask at work but it might attract a bit of unwanted attention.**

(Whilst Mark is talking Karen continues sorting through piles of files and finds several leather bound A4 notebooks. She starts flicking through one.)

**KAREN: (Softly) Oh my God.**

**MARK: What is it?**

**KAREN: My mother's old case journals. Her personal record of all the cases she worked on. They're all addressed to someone...my father. They must have really loved each other.**

**MARK: Listen it's getting late, maybe you should go home, get some rest. We can start on these again tomorrow.**

**KAREN: That's if we're still here by tomorrow.**

**MARK: What do you mean?**

**KAREN: I noticed a car follow us here, from the bank. If you're right about these men and the lengths that they'll go to to protect their secrets, then doesn't that make us even more of a threat now that we've got the files.**

**MARK: You mean you think they'll kill us before we have a chance to do anything with what we've found.**

**KAREN: They killed Amy, didn't they?**

**MARK: What are we going to do?**

**KAREN: Go to the police - tell them that we think our lives are in danger. No. We couldn't do that; the police were already in on the cover-up of Amy's death. What about the assistant director at work? He could sort this mess out.**

**MARK: Are you kidding Karen! This group controls the FBI. The AD's probably in on everything. How d'you think they knew you were Mulder and Scully's daughter in the first place? I'm guessing you hardly advertised the fact.**

**KAREN: No, you're right. Then there's only one thing we can do.**

**MARK: What's that?**

**KAREN: What they fear most. Make it public. We have the evidence. Let's go to the press.**

**************

(Karen and Mark are driving along a stretch of relatively quiet highway. Mark is driving and Karen is in the passenger seat and keeps looking nervously behind.)

**KAREN: Your friend said he'd meet us there, right?**

**MARK: Yes, for the tenth time Karen. It's going to be okay, Andy and his editor will meet us at the newspaper office. They might even be able to get the story into tomorrow's late edition. Once it's out in the open then we can't be targeted because of what we know because everyone else will know it too.**

**KAREN: And you're sure we can trust this guy.**

**MARK: Positive. We went to high school together. He's solid.**

**KAREN: (Looking behind again) We're still being followed you know. I thought we'd left him behind at the last intersection but he's managed to catch up with us again.**

**MARK: I'll speed up maybe we can lose him.**

(Mark puts his foot down on the accelerator and they extend their lead on a black car that is behind them. But the black car also increases its speed so it catches up with Karen and Mark and then pulls alongside them. Mark risks a glance towards the car but the windows are tinted so he cannot see the driver. The black car then pulls into the side of Karen and Mark, nudging their car gently. Mark struggles to keep control then increases his speed further to get away from the other car. The speedometer is now touching ninety. The black car pulls in behind them and drives dangerously close. Mark increases speed again, up to 100 now. He begins to move away from the black car and both he and Karen are looking behind them to see the other car's position. It seems they are losing the black car so Karen turns to look forward again, she sees road works starting in their lane, blocking their way and screams to Mark to look out. Mark turns forward again and slams on the breaks, swerving to avoid the road works.

The car skids and goes into a spin eventually smashing into the barrier on the side of the road and coming to a halt. Karen looks up and turns to Mark who is slumped over the steering wheel unconscious. She undoes her seat belt and climbs out of the car shakily. She walks around the car to Mark's side and as she does so she sees the black car slowing to a halt close behind them. She forces open Mark's car door and leans in to speak to him.)

** **

**KAREN: Mark? Can you hear me? Are you alright?**

(Mark groans and she undoes his seat belt pulls him out and on to the ground a few feet from the car. Mark opens his eyes, obviously in pain and whispers to Karen.)

** **

**MARK: Have to get out of here...can't stay.**

(Karen turns around and looks behind her. The black car has stopped some distance away now and its driver is walking towards them.)

**MARK: You go. Leave me here.**

**KAREN: No! I can't leave you. You're hurt.**

(She glances over her shoulder again and sees the man is coming closer.)

**MARK: Go. Now! I'll be okay.**

(Karen hesitates, then bends down and kisses Mark on the cheek. She then stands up and runs off across over the central reservation to the other side of the road. She flags down a passing car that has slowed to see what is happening. She opens the passenger side door and gets in showing the driver her FBI identification.)

**KAREN: I need you to take me back into the city.**

**DRIVER: What the hell! Shouldn't you call an ambulance or something? That guy looks hurt.**

**KAREN: It's okay, our friend's taking care of it. (She looks over to where the man from the black car is now bending over Mark.) Now drive. Or I'll requisition your car and drive it myself.**

(The driver of the car Karen has flagged down reluctantly pulls away and Karen looks back to where the man from the black car is now standing over Mark on his mobile phone.)

**************

(Scene is Skinner's apartment. He is sitting down and Karen is pacing about nervously.)

**KAREN: I can't believe this has happened. How could I even do that, just leave Mark there hurt? I should have stayed; there was only one guy in the car. I had my gun with me.**

**SKINNER: You're sure this guy wanted to kill you both?**

**KAREN: He followed us for six miles then ran us of the road. His intentions weren't exactly benevolent.**

**SKINNER: He might have just been trying to recover the files.**

**KAREN: Shit! The files. They were all in the trunk of the car. We've lost them for good now and after we went to all that trouble to get them.**

**SKINNER: At least there's one positive aspect of this, though. Without the files you're no longer a target for the group because you have no evidence of their activities.**

**KAREN: But I really thought I'd find answers in those files, about who my parents were, what happened to them, who killed Amy.**

**SKINNER: Maybe you still can.**

**KAREN: What do you mean?**

**SKINNER: When your parents disappeared, the X-files were shut down, all the files were removed and declared closed. Except for one.**

**KAREN: (Sitting down now, interested) Which one?**

**SKINNER: The investigation into your parents' disappearance. No answers were ever found. The investigation remains open. They became the final X-file.**

**KAREN: So you're saying that if I look into that case I might find something that was overlooked. Deliberately.**

(Skinner nods.)

** **

**KAREN: Where do I start?**

**************

**6:15a.m. FBI Headquarters**

(Scene is the records room again. The same clerk sits at the desk, this time he is asleep in his chair. Karen walks over to the desk decisively and shakes the clerk gently to wake him.)

**KAREN: Good morning.**

**CLERK: (Drowsily) Oh, it's you again. Trying to impress the boss are you?**

**KAREN: Not exactly. I need to see an old case file. (Reading from a piece of paper) Number 784532001. **

(The clerk pulls his chair over to the computer and starts typing. Karen puts her hand on his arm stopping him.)

**KAREN: No. I want to see the paper.**

**CLERK: Fine. But I'll need some more information, then.**

**KAREN: The date of the investigation was November 2001. You should find it under X.**

**CLERK: Just hang on a minute. What do you want this file for?**

**KAREN: (Her voice low and threatening) It's not your job to ask those questions, is it? What do you think the Assistant Director would say if you refused to give me a file that he sent me down to fetch?**

**CLERK: I didn't say I wouldn't get it for you. There's just procedure to be followed; that's all.**

**KAREN: Then hurry up and follow it. The Assistant Director doesn't like to be kept waiting.**

(The clerk disappears into the record store and Karen walks around the desk to his computer. She calls up a search option and types in a second case number. The computer brings this file up and she goes into it and we see that it concerns bank fraud over the Internet. She slips in a small computer disk, copies the file, then closes it down, slipping the disk into her pocket. She moves back to the other side of the desk and the clerk comes back holding a rather dusty file in his hands.)

** **

**KAREN: (Taking the file) Thank you very much.**

**CLERK: It'll have to be signed out though.**

**KAREN: Of course.**

(He goes and fetches a logbook and starts to fill it in with the date and Karen's name. When he gets to 'Case number' the phone rings. He hesitates and Karen smiles.)

**KAREN: It's okay, I'll finish this. You answer the phone.**

(The clerk nods and goes to answer the phone at the other end of the desk.) 

**CLERK: Records. Yes. You want what? Copies of all the case files involving violent crimes against persons from the last eighteen months. That's a lot of paperwork you know. For a statistical analysis, you say. Well do you need just the case summaries or the whole lot? Better make it the whole lot. Okay…**

(Whilst the clerk is talking Karen continues to fill in the log but puts in the second case number, file subject 'Bank Fraud'. After this she signs her name and closes the logbook returning it to its place behind the desk. She waves her thanks to the clerk - who is still on the phone - picks up the file and leaves the room smiling.)

*************

(Scene is Karen's office space. There are a few other people milling about and she leans protectively over the files on her desk so no one can see what they are. From the file she extracts the photographs and finds several of Mulder and Scully as well as some of the exterior of a large warehouse. She turns to the typed sheets and finds an account of Mulder and Scully's movements on the day before their disappearance. She moves her finger down the page and stops where the entry reads 'Last Known

Sighting' which is followed by the address of a warehouse in New York State. She taps this address with her fingernail and speaks under her breath.)

** **

**KAREN: Let's hope it's still there.**

(Gathering together the papers and photographs and shutting the file, she gets up to leave.)

*********************

**4:20 p.m.**

** **

(Scene is outside the warehouse from the photographs in the previous scene. In the distance behind the warehouse, about a mile away, a large house can be seen, the estate of which the warehouse belongs to. Karen pulls up in her car and parks on the unmade track in front of the warehouse. She gets out and looks down noticing another set of fresh tyre tracks in the rough ground. She walks over to the doors of the warehouse, which are locked shut and require a code typed into an electronic keypad to open them. She pulls on the handle of one of the doors but it does not move an inch. Exasperated she walks around one side of the warehouse looking up at the windows but they are all too high for her to reach. She tries around the other side and finds another smaller door, which this time only is locked with a padlock. Karen produces a set of lock picks from her pocket and sets to work on the padlock. After about thirty seconds of fiddling it springs open.) 

**KAREN: (Under her breath) Bingo. **

(She puts the lock picks back in her pocket and gingerly opens the door. Seeing that nobody is around and that she has set no alarms off she steps inside more confidently. The warehouse is almost empty apart from a few very large filing cabinets against the back wall. Karen walks over to these, her footsteps echoing on the bare concrete floor. She reaches the first filing cabinet, which is thick with dust and opens the top drawer. It is empty. She tries all the others in that cabinet and those in the cabinet next to it. These are empty as well.)

** **

**KAREN: Shit. SHIT! (To herself) Well whatever was here 25 years ago certainly isn't now.**

(She walks a little way along the wall, unsure of her next move. She is still very agitated and kicks a filing cabinet cursing again. When she bends down to rub her foot she notices something. This filing cabinet isn't as dusty as the rest. She runs her finger along it and it comes up clean. Eagerly she opens these drawers but again they are empty. Puzzled now she looks down at the floor by the filing cabinet and sees that it is all scuffed. Struggling with its weight and size Karen drags the cabinet away from the wall following the marks on the floor. Behind it she finds another door, this one very modern and looking much newer and better kept than the rest of the warehouse. 

** **

**KAREN: Well, well, what have we got here?**

(She tries it but it is locked and requires a swipe card to open it. Karen takes one more long hard look at the door, then her decision made pulls the filing cabinet back into position and hurries out of the warehouse back to her car. Once in the car she drives off in the direction of the house.)

************

(On arriving at the house Karen knocks on the front door, shows her ID and is let in by a housekeeper. She is then shown into a large sitting room by the housekeeper and left there. She is just examining ornaments on the mantle piece when a well-dressed man of about thirty-five walks into the room.)

** **

**MAN: I'm David Marshall, I own this estate. My housekeeper said you were from the FBI, that you had some questions for me.**

**KAREN: (Going to shake his hand.) Karen Johnson. Yes, I wanted to ask about the warehouse on the edge of your property. **

**MARSHALL: What about it?**

**KAREN: Well, let's start with what you use it for.**

**MARSHALL: I don't use it for anything. Personally I think it's an eyesore and a waste of land and I would be quite happy to have it demolished.**

**KAREN: What's stopping you then?**

**MARSHALL: Nothing I suppose. I've just never got around to it. Why is the FBI interested in one of my outbuildings anyway?**

**KAREN: (Deliberately avoiding answering his question) Is this a private estate, Mr Marshall?**

**MARSHALL: Yes.**

**KAREN: It must cost a lot for the upkeep of it all.**

**MARSHALL: (Suspicious and becoming annoyed by Karen's questions) Yes, it does.**

**KAREN: What do you do then Mr Marshall? Whatever it is it must make you a lot of money in order for you to afford a place like this.**

**MARSHALL: (Hostile now) I run my own company and I work from home. I was in the middle of some work at the moment actually, now if you have no more questions I'd like to get back to it.**

**KAREN: I think I've found out everything that I needed to know.**

**MARSHALL: Good, then I'll show you out.**

**KAREN: Before you do could I just ask you a favour? Could I use your bathroom? I mean it's a long drive back to D.C. and there aren't many rest stops on the way.**

**MARSHALL: Of course. It's straight down the corridor. Third door on the left.**

(Karen walks out of the room, down the corridor and purposefully past the bathroom. She starts peering through other door until she finds a study then lets herself in. She walks over to the desk, which is very tidy and free of papers. She opens the top drawer of the desk and examines its contents finding an electronic swipe card with Marshall's photograph on it on top of all the rest of the debris in the drawer.)

**KAREN: (Quietly) Gotcha. Not so innocent after all are we, Mr Marshall?**

(She puts the card in her pocket and carefully shuts the desk drawer again then goes to leave the room whereupon she is met by Marshall who has come to find her.)

**KAREN: (Feigning innocence) Sorry got a bit lost, what with you having so many different rooms. Is this your office then?**

**MARSHALL: (Steering her out of the room) Yes.**

**KAREN: Well then you're a lot more organised than me because whenever I'm in the middle of working on something I usually have papers everywhere. Your desk seemed very tidy to me.**

**MARSHALL: I think it's time you left.**

**KAREN: Certainly.**

********************

(Karen is back in the warehouse, this time with a camera slung around her neck, and she heads straight over to where the secret door is, this time moving the filing cabinet more confidently out of the way. Once the door is revealed again she gets out the stolen card and swipes it through the lock. The light on the lock mechanism flashes from red to green and the door slides open silently, on the other side of it is a dimly lit stairwell leading downwards. Karen gets out her gun and walks through the door cautiously, once she has descended a few steps the door automatically closes behind her and she looks around nervously. Deciding that she's come this far and must now press on she continues down the steps. At the bottom of them is a long corridor that is much better lit than the stairway. Seeing that there is no one around she holsters her gun and continues down the corridor. She stops at the first door she comes to using the stolen key card again to get in. The room on the other side of the door is a large state of the art laboratory. Karen is amazed.)

** **

**KAREN : (Quietly) Whoever owns this place must really mean business.**

(She starts taking photographs of the facilities and equipment. She walks over to the projector and switches it on a bright pattern of lines filling a large screen on one wall.

She examines this puzzled.)

**KAREN: (Muttering) Weirdest DNA profiles I've ever seen.**

(She switches of the projector and takes several pictures of the hard copy of the image it was projecting on to the wall. Putting aside her camera for the moment she goes to explore further opening a large freezer in the corner of the room. Inside it is a metal container, about a foot high, with 'Contains Liquid Nitrogen, Handle with Care' emblazoned on the side. Karen puts on a pair of gloves she finds on a side bench and takes the container out of the freezer, resting it on the bench. Still with gloved hands she unscrews the fastenings on the lid and removes it. Dry ice billows out of the top of the container and Karen plunges her hand inside lifting out a glass specimen jar by its handle on top. As she lifts the jar higher and the smoke from the dry ice clears she sees the contents clearly, which is an alien foetus preserved in perfect detail. She gasps in horror and brings her free hand to her mouth.)

** **

**KAREN: Oh my God.**

************

(Karen has left the lab now, visibly shaken by what she has just seen. She chooses another door at random to go through and finds herself in a large records room, with more of the same filing cabinets from upstairs lining the walls. She walks over to the first one and finds it full of files. Pulling one out at random she discovers it belongs to a Sean Abbots. A quick search of the rest of the files reveals that they are all dedicated to people whose names begin with A. Some of the files are obviously older than others and contain black and white photographs, the dates of birth on these go back to the 1920s. Karen shuts this door and wanders deeper into the large room studying the labels on the filing cabinets. She stops when she gets to 'M' and opens a few drawers searching in them before pulling out a file belonging to Fox Mulder. She glances quickly through it taking notice of the attached photograph and the date of birth. She then lays this file on top of those still in the drawer and leaving the drawer still open rushes off to find the cabinets labelled 'S'. When she reaches them she quickly finds the file on Dana Scully. Verifying this is the right file by looking at the photo and date of birth she leaves it on top of the open drawer, like she did the other and retraces her steps going back along the alphabet, towards the door until she reaches the letter 'J'. Slowly and deliberately now, afraid of what she may find, she searches through the Js eventually pulling out a file labelled Karen Johnson. This she notices contains photographs of her both now and as a child. She is just examining her file more closely when she hears footsteps in the corridor outside and the sound of the door opening. Startled she drops the file in her hands, reaches for her gun and turns to face the figure that is entering the room.)

(As Karen turns we follow her line of sight and see Man X standing in the doorway, he is unarmed. Karen keeps her gun pointing straight at him.)

**KAREN: (Clearly nervous and struggling to keep her voice steady) Who are you?**

**MAN****X: (Totally calm, composed and in control) Shouldn't I be asking you that question. After all it is you that is trespassing in a facility belonging to my organisation.**

**KAREN: (Indicating the file she dropped) I think you already know who I am.**

**MAN X: Quite right Miss Johnson. Now why don't you put that gun down?**

**KAREN: No way. I'm not letting you do the same to me as you did to Amy.**

**MAN X : What happened to Miss Woo was unfortunate, but sometimes individuals must be sacrificed for the greater good.**

**KAREN : (Accusingly) Is that what happened to my parents?**

**MAN X: Oh, we didn't kill your parents Karen. Despite what you think of the group, we don't shoot first and ask questions later.**

**KAREN: So, is this you asking questions now?**

**MAN X: It seems to me that you're the one with all the questions.**

**KAREN: You want questions, fine then here's one. What happened to my parents if you didn't kill them?**

**MAN X: I'm not sure you're ready to find that out yet.**

**KAREN: I'll tell you what I am and am not ready for. **

(Man X takes a few steps further into the room towards Karen) 

**KAREN: Stay where you are or I'll put a bullet in you.**

**MAN X: Now I don't think that's a very good idea, do you?**

**KAREN: It seems like a great idea from where I'm standing.**

**MAN X: Well it's not. You see we are not alone. But then being your father's daughter I guess you already know that.**

**KAREN: What the hell are you talking about?**

**MAN X: This whole place is covered by security cameras, there's about a dozen people watching us at the moment. If you shoot me then there's no way you're leaving here alive.**

**KAREN: Why should I believe you?**

(Karen still sounds belligerent but already she has lowered her gun.)

**MAN X: How do you think I knew that you were here? Knew where to come and find you.**

**KAREN: (Holstering her gun) You mean all the time that I've been here you've been watching me.**

**MAN X: We had cameras on you when you were looking around upstairs as well and during your little visit to the house.**

**KAREN: Then why didn't you stop me sooner. Why let me find all this?**

**MAN X: We wanted to wait until I could be here to speak to you personally. In order to broker a deal, so to speak.**

**KAREN: Why should I make any deals with you?**

**MAN X: Because you know too much. We need a guarantee of your silence or we'll have to guarantee it for you.**

**KAREN: And how would I persuade you that I would keep quiet about all this?**

**MAN X: By becoming a part of it yourself. You're very talented Karen; we were quite impressed with how you found your way in here. As you know we've been following your progress with the FBI and the reports have all been excellent. You're exactly the kind of person we would normally recruit as an operative for our organisation, although our recruitment measures are usually a little different. And there's also the matter of your family connections with the group. Your grandfather was a founding member you know.**

**KAREN: Why would I want to be in any way associated with you.**

**MAN X: Possibly because you have very little choice otherwise.**

**KAREN: That's what you think. You see I had a feeling I might be walking into something like this, so I made sure I had a contingency plan. I've left word of where I was going with a reporter I know from the Washington Times. If I'm not back to see him by this time tomorrow then he's going to look into my disappearance, maybe run a little story about Amy's murder and the guy who tried to run me and Mark of the road last night.**

**MAN X: No paper would be foolish enough to go to press with no supporting witnesses or evidence for the story.**

**KAREN: That's the beauty of the plan. I have got evidence. You see, not all the files were with us in the car when your 'associates' mounted their (said with great irony) recovery operation. I kept my mother's journals separate. They contain accounts of all the X-files she worked on. Dates. Names. Lots of facts that can be verified as genuine.**

And all these will be in the hands of my reporter friend if I'm not there to claim them back by 6 p.m. tomorrow. And I hate to think what a team of journalists might find if they start digging into certain events of twenty-five years ago.

(There is an uncharacteristic silence from Man X who realises he has been out manoeuvred.)

**KAREN: Looks like I may be dealing with you after all.**

**MAN X: What do you want?**

**KAREN: My safe passage out of here for a start.**

**MAN X: All right.**

**KAREN: And I want to know what happened to my parents.**

**MAN X: Not so simple I'm afraid. That's not something I can just tell you. There are certain circumstances you have to appreciate before you can even begin to understand what happened to them.**

**KAREN: Then I want at least a means of finding out them. About the mysteries surrounding their lives and there deaths.**

**MAN X: I presume you have something in mind.**

**KAREN: Yes, I want the X-files reopened. I want to continue what my parents started, do what they wanted me to do. Find the truth.**

**MAN X: And in return for this you'll stay away from the press.**

**KAREN: Yes and I appreciate that it might cost me my life if I do not. But remember if you don't keep your end of the deal, I still have the evidence from my mother's journal. I will use it against you.**

**MAN X: I think we have an understanding, I'll see what I can arrange. Just one more thing though.**

**KAREN: Yes?**

**MAN X: I'll have just have to take your camera off you. (Karen hands it over) And make sure you put everything back before you leave.**

(With that he exits.)

********************

Two Days Later

(Karen knocks on an apartment door and it is answered by Mark. He has a neck brace on and a deep cut that has been stitched up is visible on his forehead. He smiles when he sees who it is at his door.)

**KAREN: Hi, how are you feeling?**

**MARK: Come in.**

(He leads her towards the sofa and motions for her to sit down whilst still talking.)

**MARK: I'm fine. A little sore, perhaps. But I'll be so much better when they let me take this thing off tomorrow (indicating the neck brace).**

**KAREN: (Concerned) You sure you're okay?**

**MARK: Absolutely. I just had suspected concussion, mild whiplash and a few cuts and bruises that's all. They didn't even keep me in hospital overnight.**

**KAREN: I still shouldn't have left you.**

**MARK: It turns out it was the right thing to do at the time. That guy was only interested in getting the files back he didn't care about us. If you'd stayed to fight him for those files then who knows what might have happened. As it was he even called an ambulance for me, though, he was gone by the time it got there, of course.**

**KAREN: Well I'm glad you're on the mend, anyway. They're going to need you back at work soon.**

**MARK: What, you mean they've got no one to subscribe surveillance tapes now I'm not there?**

**KAREN: No, you've got a new assignment.**

**MARK: A new assignment?**

**KAREN: Yep. Working with me, on the X-files. The Assistant Director called me into his office and made it official this morning.**

**MARK: They're reopening the X-files? That's not possible. And you and me working on them! How did you manage to arrange that?**

**KAREN: I guess you just need to know the right people to talk to.**

**MARK: Wow, this is incredible. And you wanted me to work with you.**

**KAREN: (Smiling) I couldn't think of anyone else suitable. Well I'll see you at work then.**

(She gets up to leave.)

** **

**MARK: I'll be there, partner.**

(Karen exits, kissing Mark on the cheek as she does. Outside in the corridor, after the door has closed behind her, she gets out Scully's gold crucifix. She studies it for a few seconds and puts it on then walks off confidently down the corridor.)

The End. 


End file.
